The Clippers raced out to an early lead, paced by a great first half from Blake and DeAndre and then Nuggets started chipping away. First it was a long J.R. Smith three, then it was Chauncey Billups’ four point play and the Nuggets brought a fifteen point lead down to 8 to close the second quarter. Then the Nuggets came out of break, the Clippers gave up five straight points on three free throws from Chauncey Billups and an easy Nene Hilario steal that lead to a fast break where Blake, again looked confused on transition defense. Considering the recent history, it would be easy to expect the Clippers to get away from Blake, start hoisting bad shots and letting their offensive missteps transfer into a paranoid and lackadaisical defense. However, that wasn’t the case tonight as the Clippers even extended their first half lead and won by thirteen.

The disturbing trend of the opponents shooting a high percentage from three continued, and the Nuggets even got within 3 within three minutes of the third quarter, but there was a spurt from Eric Bledsoe that put the Nuggets back on their heels. He started the run with a right handed floater on the right side of the lane, then he nailed a three and then went back to the rim for another deuce and the foul (although he didn’t convert). Bledsoe benefitted from the zippy Nuggets guard Ty Lawson’s absence, but his play still required the gumption to make those shots, even if the shots were more open than normal because he had the slower Chauncey Billups guarding him. It’s been what the Clippers have been missing in the recent losses to Utah and Atlanta, that resilient ability to stare down a charging foe and make a steely move. They have harnessed this ability in certain spots, like the wins against the Hornets, Spurs and Bulls, but the win over the Nuggets felt different. It wasn’t like the Clippers survived the game, but that they actually won it.

DeAndre Jordan provided a surprisingly big lift on the interior and his play, beyond the Nuggets game, begs more attention. Yes, he turned in a Camby-esque 14 point, 20 rebound, 6 block performance in a win, but even in the recent losses he’s had a positive effect. In the last 3 games, he’s had 19 blocks. Yes, that’s right, 19 blocks. He’s still swatting at some of the shots like little kid exploding harmless soap bubbles, but there are some that lead to fast breaks. It’s no coincidence that the Clippers highlight of the game (a fast break, give-and-go alley-oop between Blake and Baron) started from a DeAndre block to his teammates. Granted, it was a mistake, as he clearly out-jumped the shot and swatted it off of his forearm, but it worked. That potential of defensive awareness will vastly improve his effectiveness. What’s most crucial is that he’s learning, becoming that low usage defensive anchor that compliments his front court partner and friend Blake Griffin.

Speaking of Blake, he again had a monster game, coming close to his first 20-20 game as he racked up 22 points, 18 rebounds and 7 assists (capped by a beautiful lob thrown to DeAndre), those assists a testament to his quick ability to adapt to the competition. His second half let downs, let downs at least in comparison to his first halves, continue to beguile. Maybe it’s just the teams figuring how to deal with his energy and bring Blake down to earth, even if his 7 points and 8 rebounds in the second half are what some centers average for a game, but he needs to figure out how to maintain his effectiveness. It’s crazy to pick the nits of a player that has the potential to be historically great (I had an argument with Daily Dime Live Host Zach Harper whether Blake could has the potential to be a Top-50 all time player), but if Blake wants to improve beyond a great player on a bad team, then he’s going to have to continually address his faults. I’m not even saying that he’s resting on his laurels, obviously he’s a hard worker, but his current situation is extremely difficult. Beyond just being on a bad team, he has to deal with the consistent negative stigmas associated with the owner and the franchise. Unfair or not, there is the extra push that he’ll have to endure to overcome the trivialities of an anomalous highlight machine on a bad team.

Watching this game, I began to wonder how closely Blake’s first half dominance is related to Baron Davis’ play. In the first half, Baron already had amassed his 8 assists, but in the second? None. It potentially provides a template for the answer to Jordan Heimer’s question brought up the other day, if Baron is healthy, then why isn’t he getting big minutes? This may be the answer, that he’s not able to sustain his play in the second half and those minutes need to go to Bledsoe in order to provide Baron with whatever rest is needed for him to finish out the ball game. Maybe Baron the facilitator requires a certain equilibrium, not too much playing time before he searches for his own shot rather than serving up passes to the rest of his teammates. It may just be something Baron needs to simply focus on, but the correlation and the trend is at least worthy of addressing.

Good news is that it didn’t have an effect on Eric Gordon who played another quietly impressive game. If Blake, DeAndre, Baron and Bledsoe are taking a chunk of the highlights, it’s largely because Eric Gordon allows them to be there. I’d bet that if you asked the casual NBA fan who was the scoring leader on the Clippers, few would answer Eric Gordon. And it’s not like he doesn’t contribute to the “big” plays. In the third, when the Nuggets were still fighting, Eric drove strong to the hole for a decisive lay-up and the foul. It was stabilizing, even if it didn’t completely prevent the slide that allowed for Bledsoe’s hot streak. Instead, Gordon has become a wonder in spite of his excellence, his handle down the stretch rightly questioned even though he has displayed the propensity to take over games (see November Jazz game in Utah and the second matchup with the Kings). He clearly hasn’t finished his development, which will involve the steadying of his handle so that he’s jerky dribble penetrations doesn’t fool himself more than the defenders.

But for now, Clippers fans should enjoy the solace of the win over the Nuggets. The two games prior showed that the Clippers are not going to make constant improvements, there will be setbacks against good teams, but they are learning enough where they can continue to bounce back and show very real progress.

EJ did not have the greatest game previous but he bounced back admirably. I think he’s allowed the occassional off night, his overall season has been great. Really enjoy watching the highlights, as no hope of catching a Clips game in Oz. Any links to watch any game replays from this season?

Lachlan

Hey bro, I’m from oz and I watch online at atdhe.net it’s the bomb. Great to know I’m not the only Aussie clippers fan

Brian

Lachlan,

I live in New Jersey and don’t have the $$$ to pay for NBA TV. You sir, are amazing! Thanks for the link!

kirbs

You sound like a kiwi with “hey bro” lol. Far and few between Clips fans in Oz

Lachlan

Hey bro, I’m from oz and I watch online at atdhe.net it’s the bomb. Great to know I’m not the only Aussie clippers fan

brad

hope you guys are ok. Heard its crazy weather over there. Hope your not wading in snake infested waters

Average Jose

GO CLIPS

RAM

Great Game! I’m too hard on EJ. it seems like all I see are his mistakes. his whining and conplaining. then I see he puts up 28? unbelievable! DJ is looking awesome! Don’t know why Baron is not getting mor minutes? VDN is killing me. Davis took a dump on Dump Davis last night!

Chris McD

I’m sure Dump Davis will find something bad to say about him in spite of his play last night. He always does.

brad

This is the final year of DJ’s contract I believe. I can see a situation play out where some team desperate for a big man is gonna pay him handsomely this summer, and knowing the clips, it wont be them….too bad.

RAM

we shall see, but DTS gave up the money for Brand and Maggette I don’t know why he wouldn’t for Jordon.

Easyground

very exciting game. it just pains me to see EJ’s inability to dribbling the ball. He losses his dribble so much it’s hard to believe a guard as good as him just can’t dribble. great game though, a coming out party for Jordan!

http://www.firedunleavy.com FD

Baron had a good game today, but what’s the use if you can’t count on him to stay in shape during the offseason. I have no problem playing him 20-30 min a game, and VDN has done a decent job to limit his mins. The Clippers are stuck with him and are actually making the best of it. He has some value as a limited point guard.

And BD being a career 31% 3pt shooter, he shouldn’t be taking any 3s.

curious

So the clippers sign collins to a 10 day contract after waiving him two days earlier? That is strange.

http://hitfix.com/awardscampaign jgroove

No, it’s cheap. Let’s them dump him when Kaman comes back.

JaySee

No, it’s smart. Nobody in the NBA wants him, so why give him a guaranteed contract?

roy

Hey fellow clips fans you can also watch any game on channelsurfing.net. i think its actually better than the atdhe.net one. Anyhow, am i the only one that notices there is a slight bitterness among laker fans because the Clips are all of a sudden getting all of the attention? Its actually pretty funny to me…Great win! great game last night! Go Clips!

http://www.firedunleavy.com FD

I don’t think any bitterness would be because of the Clippers, but more because the Lakers are not playing that well. Laker fans usually don’t hate on the Clippers.

Chris McD

I just hate when people, including Lakers fans, say that Blake Griffin is going to be a Laker one day. Most Laker fans just laugh at the Clippers. They have no reason to hate on the team.

lumpen

Great game! Great win, This game proof that the offense runs through Blake and EG, those Baron’s fans need to understand that any ball send to the rim by anybody will be catch by Blake so is not a fancy thing of BD, yes he play better but again he play a good game when everything runs easy by the team when situations are difficult you can’t find BD but last night was good I just hope every night he plays that way, Bledsoe and Aminu are in a process that thanks God are good for us learning from mistakes, listening and paying attention.
I have to eat my words at the begging of the season for DJ, Man! DJ is getting and evolving into a monster in the paint, so my respect for him and his improvement is great to see him growing like that, hope that the team can keep him next year. EG quite, silently is a good part of the defense that is always in front of perimetal shooters, we have to give him credit not only for his scoring atitude but for his sacrifice on defense the man is really a hard worker.

http://Lou Luis Garcia

If the Lakers do that, it is smart by them, if the Clippers do that , “it is cheap” To me this is business.

JoeLuis

Impresive DJ!! so, can we get rid of Kaman now? Its going to be hard for the Kavemen to be on the starting line up that’s for sure.
Resting Baron is the way to go. His be a more consistent player is he can get a breather. hey it is what it is and he’s not ready to play a full game.

I just hope they keep playing well, even gomes looked good!
Great to see them win and not just surviving but actually being the better team for the second half!

Steve

I agree about David taking threes, but watching closely last night, not one attempt was with more than 10 seconds on the clock if I remember correcty. He has played well the last stretch of games and I hope it continues. Is he the answer? No, and everyone knows that. But to crush the guy all the time is unfair. Where is DD again? Oh yeah, nowhere to be found after a W.

T and another T

Love DJ’s play lately but I think we’ll find Kaman is the better player once he gets up and running again just like we found that Baron is really better than Bledsoe.

When is Kaman coming back?

Dump.Griffin

Hey guys I was Dump Davis but now I think we should Dump Griffin. This guy never shows up in the 2nd half and all he does is dunk!! I confess I am a laker fan and I can not stand that the clippers are more exciting than the lakers. I hang out with John Ireland the ultimate clipper hater and laker groupie/homer!!!! Dump Griffin now!!!!

Go Clippas

You need to get your head examined!!!!!!

Chris McD

lol. Good one.

Dump Davis

Griffin and Gordon were excellent.

Vinny Del Negro is limiting Davis and that is working better than anything else has with him in the last two and a third seasons. The Davis pattern for the last few games when he’s been in his new “less bad” mode is that in the first quarter he shoots a lot of layups and close in shots, mainly because the defense is sagging off of him to double on Griffin and Gordon. He also dishes out a lot of assists to Griffin and Gordon. Then in the second half he no longer shoots layups and close in shots, but instead he just shoots jumpers which he usually clanks. He also gets far fewer assists. Clearly this is because he no longer gets wide open uncontested layups in the second half. At the same time, he plays even worse defense in the secnod half and whoever he’s guarding then torches him. This pattern of Davis usually leads to a second half collapses by the Clippers and has been going on at least since the loss in Philadelphia ten games ago.

Yesterday against the Nuggets, the pattern started off the same. Davis made several close in shot in the first half and had seven or eight assists. Then in the second half, he didn’t take a single close in shot, but instead in the third quarter, he took six jumpers, four from three land. Luckily, he made two of the threes, but nothing else. Also in the second half, Davis had either one or zero assists. At the same time, Billups (who for the rest of the game couldn’t find the ocean) torched him for 11 points in the early part of the third quarter.

This is when Denver was cutting down the big lead. Then Davis got benched and Bledsoe came in and (because of his speed and ability to get to the basket) led a resurgence. That’s what kept this game from being another second half collapse.

Davis’ third quarter play continues to be a huge problem. It’s just not very noticable because it gets lost in the shuffle of the whole game. But it’s still there.

As long as Davis plays like he’s been playing in the first quarter, he’s tolerable. That means only shooting on uncontested layups and close in shots. It also means getting the ball into the hands of Griffin and Gordon in ways that allow them to do what they do best.

But Davis cannot be allowed to continue playing like he does in the third quarter. He can’t be allowed to chuck up long jumpers. He can’t be allowed to play such bad defense.

Del Negro has limited Davis a lot with beneficial effect for the team, but he has to limit him even more, expecially in the third quarter. No more long jumpers. It’s not just threes. He can’t hit long twos either.

RAM

Blah Blah Blah!!!

clipperbull

Rave on, Dump!

Chris McD

Oh Dumpy. You are one of the main reasons I am glad that I don’t have to read Clipperblog to get my fix.

Maybe he secretly has a boner for Davis, like how some homophobes are actually struggling with homosexual tendencies.

Dump Davis

The ten day contract for Collins makes sense. It’s probably about more than just money. It’s probably also about a roster spot. If Collins was on the permanent roster, the roster would be full. This way they have some manuevering room if they need to sign someone new.

Jambir

Watching the second quarter of last nights game was the most fun I’ve had watching our Clips play in a very long time. Loved it!

Average Jose

Dag we need a shooting / scoring small forward SO BADLY. At this point I would trade Kaman for a small and a back-up C. Because DJ is no longer considered “only” a back-up C!

MV22

Amen. In watching last night’s game, one of the x factors was that Ryan Gomes was 5 for 10, all from the outside. He usually does a decent job defensively but last night he scored 13. He did not, as he usually does, use that long pump fake that never works. Instead, when the ball arrived in his hands and he was open, he let it go with good results. We actually played 5 on 5 basketball vs. Denver as opposed to the usual 4 on 5, with the SF being the one missing in action. I love Aminu and he gives us a lift off the bench but not every night. I’ve been saying this all season: We need a bonafide NBA starting quality 3 who plays good defense, rebounds a little and scores 15 points every night. This is not a knock on Kaman but we need a 3 more than a center as DJ is looking like he’s emerging as a defensive anchor who might eventually even develop a little post game. He supposedly is planning on working with Hakeem Olojawan this summer so he’s trying to improve. Kaman for a quality SF will give Aminu a few years to develop his game and in the meantime he’ll provide bench. If they could get a backup C that would be great but if not, I’d settle for Diogu until we could find one. A real SF who can shoot every night as Gomes did last night and approximately once every 10 games would give the Clippers the balance they need.

Chris McD

And who will back up DJ? What we need is a solid bench with less injuries. Then we can talk SFs.

Average Jose

By the way… WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH GOMES?

His scoring average, shooting percentage and rebound averages are the lowest of his career, yet the minutes he’s earning are about the same. This should have been the perfect opportunity for him, and for the team.

MV22

Nothing wrong with Gomes. He’s a bench caliber player. Decent defender, once in awhile he’ll have a decent offensive game such as the 13 points he scored on 5 for 10 shooting from outside against Denver. The problem is that he does that about once every 10th game. They signed him as a starter and that was a mistake. He’s just not a starter in the NBA and in my humble opinion is the biggest problem we have. He is our hole. I’d love to trade Kaman for someone like Wallace, Prince or Iguadola to fill that hole and maybe throw Gomes in for a backup Center eg, Hawes or some equivalent.

JoeLuis

kavemen for Iggi! its very risky but i like that move. kaman is not consistent and requires alot of ball touches. Assuming DJ keeps playing stellar i dont have a prob. with that trade.

Metal Matty

DJ has a good week and all of the sudden “let’s trade our all star center for a SF”. Sad. Get with it, guys. If we are patient, Farouq will become that quality SF or we can land a quality SF for much less that jettisoning an All Star talent Center.

I agree Gomes is a bench player at least based on his play this year. NOT a starter. I thought he would be a great GLUE starter. But his defense is only average, when I had been lead to believe it was “good”. As an average defender, his offense and rebounding is inadequate. Even middle of the row for a bench player. Not a sixth man. Maybe and eighth man. A stabalizer. He is unselfish and smart so that counts for something. Plus, he does seem to come up with a big rebound or shot when you least expect him to have a pulse.

JoeLuis

The future is NOW! now when Blake is gone! You’ve seen how inconsistent Kaman is, he’s emotionally disfunctional! one day is an all-star the next hes sucks B@lls! and all of those touches are bound to keep gordon and grifin’s stats low. they need to play with energy as a good U23 would. Aminu would be great off the bench after iggi. (we need a bench too)

Metal Matty

I was a little concerned when we signed TWO players from the lowly Wolves despite Gomes at least, considered to be a “winner” type. And sure enough. Both players are playing “Wolves” level ball. I do like Foye being used as a TWO now though. This is good.

Steve

Talk about getting real, my friend. Kaman was an all star because Roy was iinjured. Did he deserve to be, meh. He was playing great but it’s not like we are talking about Dwight Howard… I prefer DJ actually being able to finish around the rim. How many times have we all yelled in disgust when Kaman misses a 2 foot putback